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A young mother and her child died in a two vehicle crash in Co Antrim on Tuesday afternoon.
second youngster was injured in the collision involving a quad bike and a tractor on Whitepark Road in Ballycastle.
The woman – named locally as Claire Smyth, who is understood to have been aged in her 30s – died alongside her young daughter at the scene.
It is believed she was the driver of the quad which collided with the tractor on the main Causeway Coastal Route.
Her other daughter was airlifted to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast in a critical condition.
The crash happened at the entrance to the family farm on the edge of Ballycastle town on the road towards Ballintoy and the Giant’s Causeway.
It’s understood that the young mother had exited the farm, which is situated on the brow of a hill, with her children before the collision with the other vehicle.
The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service, PSNI, police helicopter and Coastguard from Ballycastle and Coleraine, as well as Bangor’s Major Trauma Unit, all attended the scene.
Police closed the road on Tuesday afternoon due to what they described as “a serious road traffic collision”.
Drivers were asked to avoid the area, with diversions in place at Clare Road.
The Ambulance Service (NIAS) said it had received a 999 call at around 4.46pm following reports of a road traffic collision on the Whitepark Road.
A spokesperson for the NIAS said: “NIAS dispatched two Rapid Response Paramedics, three emergency crews, one doctor and two ambulance officers to the incident. The PSNI and Coastguard also assisted in the incident.
“Following assessment and initial treatment at the scene, one patient was transported to Causeway Hospital initially before being transferred onwards to Belfast by Coastguard helicopter with a HEMS crew on board.”
TUV leader and North Antrim MLA Jim Allister told the Belfast Telegraph: “This is a horrendous incident which has plunged this family into incredible grief and first and foremost my thoughts and prayers are with them.
“For a mother and her child to lose their lives simultaneously in this way really is quite dreadful.”
Sinn Fein councilor Cara McShane, who lives close to the scene of the crash, said the community was reeling.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone impacted by this tragic accident, compounded at this time by the surreal times that we are living in with the coronavirus pandemic,” she said.
“In such a quiet area, the air was almost pierced by the sound of sirens and flashing blue lights of the emergency services, so the news soon rippled out that there had been a tragic accident.”
Belfast Telegraph
